February
The news in Oregon this winter is about flooding, mudslides, and standing water. It must be time for a well-earned rest from water conservation and protection efforts!

Actually, winter is a good season to get caught up on indoor water conservation projects:

• Check for leaking faucets and repair or replace them. This is still the leading cause of wasted water in our homes, churches and businesses!
• Check toilets for leaks. Either repair the leaks or replace the toilets with low-flow models. At the same time, install low-flow showerheads and faucets. These actions will result in savings on your water bills and savings in water usage during our next long, hot summer.

While you sit by the window and watch our amazing winter rainfall, reflect on our role as stewards of God's creation. Study some of the literature on water problems and stewardship around the world and closer to home.
Finally, save the dates of March 3-4, 2006 and plan to attend a forum on "Water and the Spirit," sponsored by the Diocesan Environmental
Commission, Grace Memorial, and Trinity Cathedral

March
" Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return." Here we are in Lent, once again, taking stock of our impermanent selves and our impermanent lives. We may think of Lent as a time for giving something up, something we enjoy, such as chocolate or big, juicy hamburgers. But Lent can be a time to commit ourselves to taking something on, to new behaviors leading to a rebirth.

While it may be late for New Year's resolutions, each of us mindfully and with awareness of our intent could make one firm resolution, to revere God's Creation each and every day that remains in this year.

Here are a few simple acts we might take; pick one:

• When we leave a room, if we will be gone over a few minutes, we will shut off the lights.
• When we leave our home for the day, we will turn back the thermostat several degrees.
• When we brush our teeth, we will not leave the water running.
• When we buy a single item at the store, we will say "No bag, please."
• When we see litter or debris in front of our home, we will pick it up and dispose of it properly.
• When we see a line of ants, scurrying across the sidewalk, we will not step on them.

So, pick one act, or select another that comes to mind. In so doing, we shall praise the Lord and honor his marvelous works.

Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory (Isaiah 6.3).

In this Lenten season can we pay greater reverence to the most glorious Creation of which we are a part?

May-June
Springtime at last sunshine, warmer weather, and flowers everywhere! While we enjoy this beautiful season in God's creation, it is also time to get practical and undertake major landscape changes which might save water or protect water quality:

• Consider eliminating some of the home or church lawn and planting ground covers or native plants. Compared to the traditional lawn, native plants and ground covers require less water, fertilizer, pesticides, and herbicides. Clean Water Services at www.cleanwaterservices.org offers a wide variety of suggestions on beautiful native plants.
• Start a compost pile to use for mulch, which conserves water. Compost also provides an inexpensive soil additive and source of fertilizer. Start your compost with green waste and coffee grounds staples at every church.
• Install an irrigation system, or check your existing system so that you provide only 1-1.5 inches of water each week to the lawn and plants all we need to maintain a healthy landscape.
  Accurate measurement is simple: place cans around the grounds and measure the amount of water delivered each time you turn on the irrigation system. Then program the system accordingly, and increase the water only if the plants and lawn deteriorate and turn brown.

July-August
During the hot, dry months of summer, good stewardship of water use should be considered a gift to our planet. Especially in summer we need to consider issues of water quality because the way we use water in the summer can affect how much pollution is in next winter's storm water runoff.
Rain water may seem natural and clean, but as it flows over streets, roofs, and lawns, it picks up oil, sediment, bacteria, grease, and chemicals. The resulting storm water then fills drains and ditches. Finally, it pours into neighborhood streams and rivers, becoming a major source of water pollution.

Summer prevention, using remarkably simple methods, is the best cure for this type of pollution:

• Starting with spring clean-up, keep leaves, grass clippings, dirt, and litter out of storm drains, ditches, creeks, ponds, and wetlands.
• Clean up after your pets.
• Properly dispose of or recycle motor oil, antifreeze, paint, solvents, and other toxic materials.
• Don't allow soaps and detergents from car washing to flow down the street or into catch basins.
• Do not over fertilize lawns and landscapes.

September
By Bill Becker

The Psalmist sings "I will ponder the glorious splendor of your majesty and all your marvelous works" (145:5). And many of us living in the Pacific Northwest do our pondering and feel the presence of the Holy in our interactions with the natural world.

The day before this piece was written, we were walking out on Cascade Head on a glorious day, overwhelmed by the abundance of Creation. I thought of a piece I had read that what we really need is a change of heart. Yes, all the kinds of "practical suggestions" that you have read here in "Eco-Tips," and surely in other media as well, do have a place and do contribute.

But there is a bigger question to ponder. That question was raised in a newsletter called "Eco-Justice Notes," edited by Rev. Peter Sawtell (www.eco-justice.org), and which Eco-Tips recommends.

Sawtell urges us to consider the direction in which our culture's materialistic ways are taking us. He quotes G. K. Chesterton: "There are two ways to get enough. One is to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less and less." But Chesterton was wrong, Sawtell says, because the first path never will satisfy us. More never will be enough, will it?

And consider the consequence of the desires of millions, indeed billions, of people across the planet to live the way that we do. Is this supportable? What population can "this island earth" support at some decent level of existence?

And what are the implications of these questions for our church, our state, our country, for all of God's Creation? Let us meditate seriously on these questions.

November
Landscapes of red and gold guide us into fall with its unique beauty and its challenges for stewards of God's good earth. In autumn we turn up the heat in our homes and churches and deal with issues of efficient energy systems and renewable power options. Many options for good energy stewardship are available throughout Oregon:

• Eco-Trust of Oregon (www.ecotrust.org) gives cash back for insulation, high-efficiency heat pumps, energy-efficient windows, and other similar home improvements.
• Oregon Senate Bill 1149 requires companies to offer customers, including homes and churches, clean, renewable options such as wind energy or geothermal power. One such option combines clean renewable energy with habitat restoration for salmon! Imagine: Warm, energy efficient homes for us and clean, inviting streams for returning salmon in the spring.

Be sure to look into renewable power options for both home and church.